(Bloomberg) — Tesla Inc. and BYD Co. set new sales records in the second quarter, cementing their lead as the world’s best-selling clean-car makers.
Bloomberg’s Most Read
Tesla, led by Elon Musk, delivered a record 466,140 cars worldwide in results released on Sunday, beating Wall Street estimates. BYD, China’s top-selling auto brand, released its best-ever quarterly sales of 700,244 new-energy vehicles – half of which were all-electric and the other half a plug-in hybrid.
Shares of BYD jumped as much as 3.2% on Monday morning in Hong Kong. Tesla Contemporary battery suppliers Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. and LG Energy Solutions Ltd. rose 2.3% and 3.1% respectively on Monday before paring their gains.
Tesla’s results
Tesla’s results demonstrated that CEO Musk’s vow to chase volume by cutting prices had the desired effect. Analysts polled by Bloomberg expected the company to ship 448,350 cars in the quarter.
“It’s a big beat,” Robert W. Baird’s Ben Kallo said in a Sunday morning phone interview. “People were always preparing for another round of price cuts, and this large number of deliveries reduces the risk.”
Deliveries are the most ever in a quarter for Austin-based Tesla, and an 83% increase from a year ago. The company also managed to narrow the gap between production and shipments – a figure closely watched by analysts – to 13,560 units in the second quarter. In the first quarter, it produced nearly 18,000 more cars than it delivered to customers.
“Everyone was worried about stockpiling, and it looks like they’ve normalized,” Kallo said. “The delta between production and deliveries is narrowing, which is what Tesla said they would do.”
Tesla, which sells its cars directly to consumers, has many levers to move vehicles. As well as slashing prices across the lineup earlier this year, the company introduced perks, such as three months of free fast-charging in the US for cars delivered by June 30, to entice buyers. Analysts have predicted that price declines will continue into next year.
Read more: Tesla closes in on another delivery record after price cuts
Tesla does not break down its quarterly delivery figures by vehicle type or region. Models 3 and Y accounted for 96% of sales. Tesla also manufactures the Model S and X.
Tesla is still the largest maker of electric vehicles in the United States, but it faces new competition around the world. This is the newest vehicle – the Model Y – debuted in 2020.
In China – its No. 2 market – the company is far behind BYD, which has a much fresher lineup and increasingly global ambitions. Tesla announced last week that it was slashing the prices of its premium car models in China by more than 4.5%, following a decision to distribute cash subsidies to some buyers of its Model vehicles. 3 last month.
Read more: Watch electric vehicle stocks in Asia after Tesla beats delivery estimates
Tesla will release its second quarter results on July 19.
BYD Registration
A closely watched metric of who leads pure-electric vehicle sales shows Tesla has extended its lead over BYD, even as the Chinese automaker continues to grow globally on its affordable offerings.
Still, Shenzhen-based BYD’s quarterly sales – extrapolated from monthly data – rose 98% from a year earlier. The surge marks a turnaround after a weak first three months of the year. Its previous best quarter was the last three months of 2022, and the company sold a record 251,685 new-energy vehicles in June.
Small Chinese start-up Li Auto Inc. posted a new monthly record of 32,575 deliveries, while Xpeng Inc. and Nio Inc. saw modest increases. Guangzhou Automotive Group Co.’s Aion electric vehicle brand stood out with another strong month of sales, with 45,013 deliveries.
June sales “show that demand for new energy vehicles remains quite strong” despite China’s economic slowdown, said Joanna Chen, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst for electric vehicle batteries and cars.
–With the help of Charlotte Yang.
(Adds stock price reaction to third paragraph)
Bloomberg Businessweek’s Most Read
©2023 Bloomberg LP